Italian Wedding Soup

This recipe was inspired by few recipes that are linked below but I made a few tweaks to make it my own, including making homemade chicken stock to use for this recipe. I'm like a pioneer woman right now. You don't have to do that to make this recipe, store bought stock is fine. This recipe is a bit involved but man it was delicious. So if you have time to make a delicious and clean eating soup, I suggest giving this one a try.


Alton Brown's Baked Meatballs
Ina Garten's Italian Wedding Soup

Ingredients:
Meatballs
1 lb of ground bison or lean ground beef
1/4 cup of parmesan cheese
1/4 cup of rolled oats
1 egg
2 tbsp of italian seasoning
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tbsp of garlic powder
1 tsp fennel seeds or fennel powder
Sprinkling of salt and pepper

Soup
8 cups of chicken stock
2 cups of water
1 large onion, diced
1.5 cups of diced carrots
3 cups of baby spinach, chopped thinly
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh basil, chopped or 2 tsp dried
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped or 3 tsp dried
1 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped or 2 tsp dried
1 tsp italian seasoning
1 tsp dill
1 tbsp of lemon juice
1 tbsp red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp of parmesan cheese
1 cup of cooked quinoa

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Combine all meatball ingredients into a bowl and mix together with your hands until all ingredients are very well mixed.
2. Roll small pieces of the meat mixture into little 1.5 inch high meatballs and place on a cooking sheet lined with parchment paper or sprayed with cooking spray. Should get about 20 meatballs.
3. Put meatballs in the oven for 20 minutes until cooked through.
4. Start the soup by adding onions and carrots to a large soup pot with a little bit of stock. Just enough to water saute the veggies in the stock.
5. After sauteing for 2-3 minutes add the garlic, red pepper flakes, dried dill, italian seasoning and saute until the onions are translucent and carrots are softened. 7-10 minutes on medium heat.
6. Add the rest of the stock and fresh herbs and lemon juice. Bring the soup to a boil and then turned down the heat to a simmer.
7. After the meatballs are done, let them cool and then place them in the soup. Simmer for about 10 minutes.
8. Add chopped spinach and cooked quinoa to the soup. Simmer for 2-3 minutes until spinach is wilted. Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste
9. Garnish with parmesan cheese and enjoy!

Quinoa and Lentil Salad

Found this recipe on food network and did not expect it to be this good. I made a few small tweaks but mostly followed the recipe this time.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/lentil-quinoa-salad-recipe/index.html

Ingredients:
1 cup of red quinoa (dry)
2/3 cup of brown lentils (dry)
1/4 cup of chopped cilantro
1/4 cup of chopped green onion
1.5 Tbsp of country dijon mustard (really grainy kind)
3 Tbsp of raspberry red wine vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp of lime juice
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
1. Fill a sauce pan with 2 cups of water and add 1 cup of quinoa.
2. Bring quinoa to a boil and then cover and reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Check the quinoa at 15 minutes. It should be fluffy, moist, and have almost all of the water absorbed. If it is too watery, continue to cover and cook for 1-2 minutes.
4. While the quinoa is cooking, add about 2 cups of water and add 2/3 cup of lentils into a saucepan and bring to a boil and then keep at a low, steady boil for about 20 minutes.
5. Drain the lentils in a strainer.
6. Let both quinoa and lentils cool for about 20 minutes.
7. In a large serving bowl, add 1.5 tbsp of country dijon mustard, 3 tbsp raspberry red wine vinegar, and olive oil. Whisk together so that the ingredients are mixed well.
8. Add in 1 tbsp of lime juice and salt and pepper to taste. Whisk the mixture lightly again.
9. Add lentils, chopped cilanto, chopped green onions and quinoa into the bowl with the dressing and lightly mix.

I served with grilled veggies!